LENT I SERMON: THE KINGDOM OF GOD

 

(Photo of me presiding at Eucharist in the Church of the Primacy of Peter in Tabgha, by the Shore of the Sea of Galilee, site of the miracle of the multiplication of the loaves and fishes (Mark 6:30-46) and the fourth appearance of the resurrected Christ (John 21:1-24) where He asked Peter three times, "Do you love me more than these?" and to which Peter replied, three times, "Yes, Lord, you know that I love you." Photo taken, August 2008 Israel, Palestine.)

The Kingdom of God (Mark 1:9-15)

There was a story of a farmer who had a horse. One day, as he was selling his produce in the market, he left his horse tied to a fence. Two thieves stole the horse. Actually, they had a scheme. One of the thieves took the horse away and the other stayed behind and tied himself with the rope of the horse. When the farmer came, the horse was no longer there but he saw the man tied to the fence. The thief told to the farmer that he had committed a sin and God punished him and turned him into a horse but on that blessed day, God has forgiven him and turned him back into a man. The farmer believed this incredible story and though he was sad  that he lost a horse, he was also glad that the man was forgiven . A couple of weeks later, the farmer saw the lost horse tied to a fence near a tavern. The farmer came to the horse and said, “My friend, did you sin again?”

The first Sunday of Lent begins our incredible story of human sin and God’s forgiveness played throughout the life and ministry of Jesus Christ. In Mark 1:9-15, we learn that the actual ministry of Jesus began in baptism. As Christians, our ministry should also begin at baptism. It is in baptism that Jesus was affirmed by the Father as His beloved Son and anointed him with the Holy Spirit. Then the Spirit led Jesus  into the wilderness to be tested. Following his victory over temptations, Jesus traveled throughout Galilee announcing the message: “The time has come…The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!”

What is the kingdom of God? It is the central message of the Gospel. “The kingdom of God” is mentioned 68 times in ten different parts of the New Testament; its synonym, ‘the kingdom of heaven, ‘is mentioned 32 times in Matthews gospel. Because they refer to the same thing, we can say that altogether, “the kingdom of God” is mentioned 100 times in the New Testament. It must therefore be the central message of Jesus.

Jesus did not come to build a church edifice; he did not come to establish a denomination; he did not even come to found a religion. He came to inaugurate the kingdom of God.  But what is this kingdom or rule of god? Where can it be found? Jesus mentioned two seemingly contradictory  statements about  where the kingdom of God is.  In Luke 17:20-21, he said, “the kingdom of God is in your midst.” If the kingdom is in our midst, then surely, the kingdom of God is in this world, for we live in this world. But in John 18:36, he said, “my kingdom is not of this world.” If it is not in this world, then it must be in another world. It must be in a place outside of our existential  life. It must be …in heaven!

Theologians who studied the meaning of the kingdom of God have coined a phrase to capture a comprehensive symbol of the kingdom of God. The phrase they used is “the already not yet.” To them the important question is not where the kingdom of God can be found; the important question is where it is built and how it is being built in the life of the believers.

The kingdom of God is the rule of an eternal sovereign God over all creatures and things (Psalm 103:19; Daniel 4:3). This kingdom was inaugurated by Jesus. By  his life, death and resurrection, this kingdom is already at work among the believers. In other words, we who have believed and who have been baptized, the kingdom of God is already at work. It is seen in the good works that we do. It is seen in the things that we say. It is seen in the relationship that we create. Whenever you speak God’s word and whenever you do God’s work, you proclaim the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God is within you! The address of the kingdom is your heart’s address.

This kingdom however is not yet fully consummated. It is already but not yet. We have our one foot already in heaven but our other foot is still on earth. The death of Jesus has saved us from the condition of sin but our flesh and blood remain susceptible to the temptation to sin. St. Paul, confessed at one time saying, “the good that I want to do, I do not do; the bad that I do not want to do, I do. Who can save me from this tendency to sin? Thanks be to God who gives us victory in Christ.”

As human beings, we are not immune from sin; but as Christians, we are offered the resources to repent and to change. We are in the world but we are not of the world. That is why every Sunday Eucharist, we go into a general confession, we receive an absolution, and we partake of the Body and Blood of Christ, so that we can be sanctified and be molded in the image and character of Jesus. The Holy Eucharist is therefore both the altar of the world where the sins of humanity are collected---and the banquet of the Lord where the forgiveness of God is being offered free for the sins of the world. In the Eucharist, we stand to sing praises to the King of this kingdom; we sit to listen to His Word; we kneel to intercede for the world. We enter into the presence of the King to worship and we depart to serve.   

By the life that we lead, by the relationships that we create, by the love we share, and by the deeds we do in Jesus' Name, we participate in the building of the Kingdom. One of the post-Eucharistic prayers in the Filipino Prayer Book says, “Lord, you are the Bread of Life broken for us. May we, Your children, be like this Bread broken and given for the world.”Indeed. Amen.

LEAPS OF FAITH: Knowing Jesus as Christ and God

LEAPS OF FAITH: Knowing Jesus as Christ and God

The Rev. Dr. Winfred B. Vergara

Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because  you have seen Me? Blessed are they whohave not seen and yet believe” John 20:26.

At a Sunday School class, the teacher asked, “Where is God?” All the kids, having been taught the previous Sundays about God’s omnipresence, replied “God is everywhere,” but Little Johnny said, “Maam, I know God is in the bathroom.” The teacher was curious and asked little Johnny why he said God was in the bathroom. Little Johnny told a story: one morning he heard his Mom and Dad arguing. Then his Mom cried and went inside the bathroom and locked it. His Dad followed behind, knocking and knocking. Then in exasperation, his Dad said, “My God, when are you going out of the bathroom?”

The apostles' belief in the resurrection of Jesus started as a tale and ended as a big leap of faith. They were not witnesses to the resurrection. They were not the first ones to see the empty tomb. They were hiding in closed doors for fear of the Jews; they were talking in whispers; they were communicating in signs. The cruel death of Jesus on the cross was lingering in their memories. They fear that they were going to be next. As it was in the past experience of Israel, when the colonial Roman government would massacre or imprison all those involved in political rebellions, they feared a crackdown on their movement.

But they began to believe in the stories of the women. Mary the mother, Joanna the mother of James and Mary Magdalene told them what had been spoken by the angels. “He is not here, he is risen.” And so they returned to prayer. And when they did, Jesus appeared.

 My friends, when things are hard to bear, when situations are difficult, when our lives are hanging by the thread, prayer changes things. By prayer, fear turns to courage; despair turns to hope and sorrow turns to joy, even imaginations become reality. In the words of the psalmist, “you gave me beauty for ashes, an oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness. That we might be trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that He might be glorified.” Jesus said, “Where two or three are gathered together in my name, I am in the midst of them.”

From the closed door, suddenly Jesus stood among them and said, “Peace, be with you; as the Father has sent me, so I send you.” The words of Jesus were a revival message of their past commissions. When Jesus was with them in Galilee, Jesus taught them how to pray, how to heal, and how to preach the gospel. Then he sent them two by two in the villages and as they went the Holy Spirit performed miracles through their hands. They all forget about their power when they saw Jesus crucified. And so Jesus again said to them “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; but if you withhold their sins, they will be retained.”

Once upon a time, when people were still travelling across the ocean by steamship, there was a story of a poor passenger from London who went to the United States. He had a ticket with him but unfortunately, he did not know how to read and so he did not know what’s in the ticket. It took at least three days for the ship to arrive in New York from London and this passenger after a day without meal, was getting hungry. He saw that during breakfast, lunch and dinner, the other passengers were eating food in the dining room of the ship but he could only look at them with envy. Finally he summoned enough courage to ask the captain if he could have at least some of the leftover and the captain replied, “You have a ticket alright? Don’t you know that when you buy a ticket, the meals are already included?”

The apostles had tremendous power because they were anointed by Christ. But they did not know that when they are anointed by Jesus in the name of the Father, the Holy Spirit is also there. The Holy Spirit enables, empowers and equip them to witness to the life of the risen Christ. And so the appearance of Jesus was a ticket that entitles them to everything because all authority and power in heaven and on earth and under the earth, had been given to Jesus.

But Thomas, one of the apostles was not within them when Jesus appeared and when told of the story, Thomas replied, “Unless I see the mark of nails in his hand and put my finger on the mark of the nails, I would not believe.” Thomas was a typical Episcopalian; he is a man of rationality. He uses his head. For him, to see is to believe. It was at that moment that Jesus again appeared. And addressing directly to Thomas, Jesus said, “Put your finger on my hand and feel the mark; and put your hand upon my side where the spear of the Roman soldiers pierced; do not be faithless but believe.” At this point, Thomas exclaimed, “My Lord and my God!” Thomas articulated the highest creedal affirmation ever. The other apostles confessed Jesus as Master, Teacher and Lord. Peter confessed Jesus as the Christ, the Son of the living God. But Thomas said, “My Lord and my God!” It is to Thomas that we first derived the concept of Jesus as “very God of very God.”

But Jesus said to Thomas, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe.” There are therefore three leaps of faith that Thomas learned that day. First, you believe because others have told you about it; second you believe because you have seen it; and third, you believe because you really know it in spirit.

May you know Jesus as a living Reality of God through the power of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

BAPTISM OF CHRIST IS POWER TO CHRISTIANS

BAPTISM OF CHRIST IS POWER TO CHRISTIANS

(Homily of the Rev. Dr. Winfred B. Vergara on Sunday, 01.08.2012at St. Michael & All Angels Episcopal Church, 2197 Jackson Avenue, Seaford, New York 11377. Bible Text :Mark 4:4-11)

“And so John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.” (Mark 4:4)

I have something to confess. When my wife and I moved here in New York eight years ago, I said to myself “No, I’m not going to adopt the frenetic lifestyle of New York City. I’m not going to run up the stairs to the subway train or run up and down the escalators in Grand Central; I’m not going to rush in Manhattan during non-rush hours; I’m not going to push people from my way; I’m not going to run the  red light. Like a good Californian that I was for 18 years, I am going to walk like a Californian. I am going to stroll along the byways; enjoy the sight of nature, stop and smell the flowers on my way. You know what? I lied to myself. Weekly, as I go to my office in Manhattan, I run up the stairs to catch Train #7 in Queens, run up the escalator in Grand Central, and push people on my way from the subway. I have become a New Yorker.

Life is difficult; wrote Scott Peck in his book, “The Road Less Traveled.” And we are not perfect as we should be. St. Paul reckoned it this way, “the evil that I do not want to do, I do; the good that I want to do, I do not do.Who shall deliver me from this life? Thanks be to God who gives me victory through Jesus Christ.,” 

For sure, St. Paul as a man of God and missionary beyond compare, had done so many good deeds but he had done so, as he had acknowledged, not on his own merit, but only by the grace of God, working through the Holy Spirit

That is exactly what John the Baptist was saying when he saw his first cousin, Jesus, coming to be baptized. John was a powerful speaker, a very interesting and articulate person. Had he lived in our times, he would have been given a Talk Show. He went into the desert and yet people followed him. They wanted to hear him talk. He went to the mountains and people climb to hear him preach. He went to the muddy river of Jordan and yet people want to be baptized there. Imagine what kind of TV reality show he would put up if he were with us today? But then here comes a man, more powerful than he was, and yet coming to be baptized by him. Here comes Jesus, his first cousin, whom he had recognized by his own prophetic gift, to be more powerful than he is, the thong of whose sandals, he was not even unworthy to untie. And John said to the people, “I baptize you with water but He who is coming, will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.” John did not want to baptize Jesus but at Jesus’ insistence that they follow tradition, he did, and when Jesus emerged from the water, the Holy Spirit came down in the form of the dove and a voice was heard from heaven, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” The moment of baptism was the moment when the Holy Spirit enters the life of Jesus. And this is also the moment, when we are baptized in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, that we too, become children of God. During our own baptism, the Holy Spirit readily enters and communes with our human spirit---and we begin to live a new life, a life lived in the power of the Holy Spirit.

Do you believe this? Yes, we do. Sunday after Sunday, we recite the Nicene Creed---“I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the Giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son, and together with the Father and the Son, He is worshipped and glorified.” But do we really believe it? Do the lives we lead and the relationships that we create really speak about the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives? Sometimes I listen with humility to my Pentecostal friend when he said, “You Episcopalians and Catholics, believe the Holy Spirit is resident in you; we, Pentecostals believe the Holy Spirit is not only resident in us, but we also president in us. In a sense, the Holy Spirit is really our presiding bishop.”

A story is told of a circus trapeze that walked on the tightrope attached from one end of the Niagara Falls to another. That would be from the U.S. side to the Canadian side. There was a large crowd admiring his courage and sense of balance. Then he said, “Do you believe that I can carry this log from the US side to the Canada side and back?” And people said, “Yes, we believe.” And so he carried the log and walked on the tightrope from the U.S. side to the Canadian side. And people applauded his achievement. Then he said to the crowd, “Do you believe I can carry another human being with me, from this end to the other while walking on the tight rope?” And the crowd again said, “Yes, we believe.” And the tightrope walker replied, “Then, if you really believe, may I ask for one volunteer?”  And the crowd was completely silent---no one volunteered.  Their level of belief is only head knowledge.

Faith in God sometimes requires from our lives a total dependence on the Holy Spirit. We walk by faith and not by sight. Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. Abraham left his country and his people and went to the land which God was showing him, not knowing where he was going. Instead of settling in a palace, he lived in tents because he was always ready to hear where God was leading him. Many men and women after him have gone through the same experience. Men and women, boys and girls, even families who walked in prayer and obedience to God and God did not disappoint them. God called them people of faith and even some of them, like Abraham, did not receive the promise, their lives spoke of adventure, of holy experience, of divine visions, because they were looking not for the cities and houses and jobs made by human hands. Rather, they were ultimately seeking for a city, with a strong foundation, whose builder and maker is God.

Perhaps it is symbolic that Jesus had to be born on the winter solstice, when the night was its darkest and the climate was at its coldest. Jesus was to come like a light in the dark, like the heat in the cold. He has come to ignite the fire of faith so that our weak bodies will be filled with energy, our despairing hearts will be filled with hope, and our fearful spirits will be filled with courage and strength. And here at his Baptism, Jesus received the anointing of the Holy Spirit. He will preach Good News to the poor, he will heal the sick, he will set free the oppressed, he will bind the wounded, he will inspire the broken hearted, he will bring peace to those who are troubled and he will bring the kingdom of God to those who dwell in darkness and in the shadow of death.

Let me end my meditation with these words from the Gospel of John, “He was in the world and world was made by Him and yet the world knew Him not; He came to his own home and His own people received Him not; but to those who received Him, who believe in His name, He gave power to become children of God.”

Friends, by your baptism in Christ, you have received the adoption as children of God. You have been anointed by God in the power of the Holy Spirit. You have power to transform darkness into light. You have power to walk on the tightrope of your life. You have the power to triumph against all evil powers that threaten your existence. By the grace of God and by the power of the Holy Spirit, you will not only survive; you will prevail. You can do all things through Christ who strengthens you-- in the power of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

CALLING, CONVICTION, CLARITY: Commissioning of Ethnic Ambassadors

Calling, Conviction and Clarity: Commissioning of the Ethnic Ambassadors 

Rev. Dr. Winfred B. Vergara 12.15.11 Los Angeles, California

Note: On December 12-15, 2011 the Ethnic Missioners of the Diversity Social and Environmental Ministries (DSE) of the Mission Department of the Episcopal Church gathered six leaders from each ethnic faith community of Asian, Black, Latino/Hispanic and Indigenous Ministries in Cathedral Retreat Center in Los Angeles, California. The ethnic leaders were to be trained as ministry trainers with and for their respective communities. Various workshops were given including Leadership, Discipleship, Communication, Power Dynamics, Life-Long Faith Formation, Church Structure and Technology.

The Ethnic Missioners are Sarah Eagle Heart, Angela Ifill, Anthony Guillen and Fred Vergara. We are grateful to the support and assistance of Ruth-Ann Collins of the Faith Formation and our DSE colleagues, Christopher Johnson and Michael Schut and we were blessed by the presence of inspiration of Sam McDonald, director of Mission. In the final day of the training, a Commissioning Liturgy was conducted by DSE and this homily was delivered. The following were commissioned as “Ethnic Ambassadors”:  

Asiamerica Ministries: Irene Tanabe, Bayani Rico, Ada Wong Nagata, Isaiah Joo, Ranjit Matthews and Minh-Hanh Nguyen

Black Ministries: Wanda Norris, Jemonde Taylor, Carole Pinkett, Freda Marie Brown and Arlette Benoit

Hispanic/Latino Ministries: Daniel Velez-Rivera, Christina Encinosa, Gladys Diaz, Nancy Frausto and Susan Moss

Indigenous Ministries: LaCinda Hardy, Elsie Dennis-Dofelmier, Martha Allen and Angela Haugen

***********************************

In most of world history, there are three factors that make up the recipe of a people’s revolution: a common experience of pain, a common vision of hope and the emergence of authentic leaders who embody their people’s pains and visions. In the Church, I believe, that it is not the institution that can effect revolutionary change but a group of Christians working together, keenly sensitive to the cry of God’s people, and who, like Mary, the bearer of the Holy Child, would earnestly respond to the will of God.

Some portions of these elements are present among us today, and I prophesy that someday, we shall effect this revolutionary change in our beloved Church. A Chinese proverb says, “the journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step.” You as leaders from the four ethnic communities have just began to tie up the thongs of your sandals, so to speak, in order to march in the light of Christ, no longer behind, but alongside the enlightened members of the dominant culture---and effect, real revolutionary change. You were trained and you will be trained, as trainers of leaders, present and future, in your ethnic communities to the end that we shall all be ambassadors of the Good News and servants of positive, revolutionary change.

God is still in the business of renewing the face of the earth and rearranging the order of things. “He has cast down the mighty from their thrones and has lifted up the lowly,” sang Mary of the Magnificat (Luke 1:52-53). God is flattening authority and distributing delegated power. I am certain that us, who come from the margins, are being called by God to announce repentance and change so that the structures of racism and injustice will be dismantled and the disparity that exists between and among peoples and cultures will cease to exist. Justice and equity will meet together, harmony and diversity will kiss each other.

As a concluding remark to the many lessons that you have already learned these past three days, let me just say three things why I believe why you can be part of a revolutionary change:

First, is your sense of calling: After observing you and listening to how you responded to the presentations of your Ethnic Missioners, I am now starting to believe that it was not us who called you and invited you, but God Himself through the Holy Spirit. I observed that not only that you exhibit a sense of mission; you also demonstrated the various gifts of the Spirit and even more possess the fruit of the spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, kindness, gentleness and self-control. The Church is in need of leaders who balance giftedness of visions and dreams with Christian maturity.

Second is your sense of conviction: I heard many of you expressing your passion for mission and your willingness to be used by God as “bridges”, “conduits” or “broad bands” of Christ’s ministry of reconciliation. The time of adversarial and competitive leadership is gone; the time for collegiality and collaboration has come.

Thirdly and finally, is your sense of clarity. This is very important because, I believe the church today is losing, if it has not already lost its message. In this time of anxiety, volatility and complexity, the Church, it seems to me, is experiencing a “fog of mission” or a sense of confusion about its reason for being.

I remember a story about a certain conclave called to elect a new pope to replace the one who died. Unlike the Episcopal Church’s General Convention where election of the Presiding Bishop is an open assembly, the Roman Catholic Conclave is a secret meeting of the College of Cardinals where the cardinals are locked and secluded in the Sistine Chapel. They would retreat to their prayer cubicles, seek discernment from the Almighty and cast their votes. The people gathered at St. Peter’s Square will know if the pope is elected or not through the smoke that comes out from the chimney of the Vatican. When a Pope is not elected, the ballots will be burned and a black smoke will come out. But when a pope is elected, a certain chemical will be poured upon the ballots and a white smoke will appear. Now in this particular election, there was not enough chemical put and so the smoke that came out was neither black nor white but gray----and the people outside were confused. They did not know if they have a pope!

I am inclined to say that much as you will be the “ambassadors of the Ethnic Ministries in the Diversity, Social and Environmental team of the Department of Mission in the Episcopal Church,” you must have the clarity that your primary role as Christians and as Episcopalians is to be ambassadors for Christ, Christ making His appeal through you and entrusting you with the ministry of reconciliation (2 Corinthians 5:18-20). We do not have a mission of our own; we are only entrusted to become instruments of Christ’s mission. We do not have a ministry of our own; we are only entrusted with the ministry of Christ---that of reconciling the world to God and each other in Christ.

Sam (McDonald), our Mission Director, reminded us yesterday that when all is said and done, our main calling is primarily “the salvation of souls.” John Wesley, the 18^th century Anglican priest and evangelist who co-founded the Methodist Church, along with his brother Charles, once said, “You have nothing to do but to save souls. Therefore spend and be spent in this work. And go always, not only to those that want you, but to those that want you most. Observe: It is not your business to preach so many times, and to take care of this or that society; but to save as many souls as you can; to bring them to repentance, and with all your power to build them up in holiness without which they cannot see the Lord.”

It is this clarity of your message, this sense of mission and your conviction of your calling that would make you as true ambassadors. And so it is proper for us, the four Ethnic Missioners, to now call you our colleagues and fellow missioners. Let our common calling be grounded by faith, let our common conviction be sustained by hope and let the clarity of our message be shaped by Christian love. Amen.

POWER OF WORDS - FRED VERGARA

POWER OF WORDS – By Fred Vergara

Two cancer patients were given the same prognosis: “you have three months to live.” One negatively said, “Woe unto me, I may die soon!” He died after three weeks. The other one positively said, “I will survive and live forever.” He survived and has been in remission.

Words have power and we must be careful with our words. The words we speak, especially coming from our heart, can mean either life or death. Solomon, the wisest king of Israel said, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue” (Proverbs 18:21).

When I was a student chaplain, I often visited pre-ops patient and would teach them how to say positive words prior to surgery. I believe that the desire, the will and the words of the patient have a lot to do with the success of the surgery just as much as the skill of the surgeon. If the patient confesses death, then death-consciousness will begin to work in his system. If he confesses life, the body begins to release the natural forces of healing to make his desire or prayer come true.

This is also true among the elderly who have retired from work. When the mind begins to think of itself as old and confesses, “I’m retired now; I am too old to do anything productive,” then the body will respond to these words and rapid aging would take place. The mind begins to lose memory, the body becomes inactive, the bones atrophy. On the other hand, if one says, “my experiences give me more wisdom and I am learning more about life now that I've never known before,” then youthful enthusiasm kicks in, youthful energy is ignited and youthful aging gracefully moves.

Age is more than chronology, it is a state of the mind and is influenced by the things we think and the words we say.  That is why we find many active and strong elderly people in church. Church activities make them young. Singing and making melody to the Lord make them remember. Serving, sharing, being hospitable to others make them active. Teaching and learning new things make them alive. Talking with both young and old make them happy. A merry heart doeth good like a medicine. A broken spirit drieth the bones but a merry tongue from the merry heart is the joy of the Lord!

One other thing that positive words can change is poverty. I have lived, studied and traveled far and wide to know that poverty is not of God. I believe poverty is a curse of the devil and those who create and operate systems that perpetuate poverty are of the devil. I would not mention the countries, but I have seen many who suffer in abject poverty, struggling to survive just one more day. As a youth activist in the 1970’s, I had seen and experienced slum dwellers near the garbage “smoky mountain” who ate under the mosquito nets because the flies are swarming around the dining area. Oppressive poverty where people are chained in misery and hopelessness is demonic. God desires to deliver His people from the curses of sin, poverty, disease and death. His Son, Jesus Christ came to give us life and have it more abundantly (John 10:10).

As individuals, changing our self-image is one of the keys to deliverance from poverty. If we create a self-image of being poor, then we will always be poor and in need of other people’s hand-outs. On the other hand, if we create a self-image of being wealthy, then we attract the forces of prosperity. By confessing strength, the weak becomes strong; by confessing wealth, the poor becomes rich. The road to health, wealth and joy begins from the spirit and the mind. By trusting God and working hard to reach your dream, you will be able to lift yourself up from the quagmire of poverty and move into a place where you can share the bounties of the earth---and give enough for the Lord’s work.

Speaking creative and positive words started with God who from darkness said, “let there be light”--- and there was light. Creatio ex nihilo. God created something from nothing. The Bible says that the world, as we know it, was framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible. It is another way of saying that the universe came into existence by creative divine words.

Of course, we are not God to create something from nothing. But no matter who you are and where you are, you have at least “some” thing. There is not one person who has nothing. You have at least one thing or two things to start with. All you need is faith: believe in God, believe in yourself and speak your faith. Jesus said that if you have faith even as small as a mustard seed you can say to the mulberry tree, be uprooted and thrown into the sea, and it will happen (.Luke 17:6).  In modern parlance, if you have faith like a microchip, you can fly me to the moon. “Faith is being sure of what we hope for, the confessing of things we dream of” (Hebrews 11).

The principle of faith operates in the words we speak. So instead of whining and complaining, which are depressive to the spirit, soul and body, why not confess positive, creative and inspiring words? Proverbs 25:11 says, “Words aptly spoken are like apples of gold in a setting of silver.” So begin by aptly saying to yourself, “I am strong; I am healthy; I am wealthy; I am beautiful. I am smart; I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” Then like Mary, end by saying, ‘Lord, let it be done to me, according to Thy Word.”

Calling, Conviction, Clarity: Commisioning of Ethnic Ministers

Calling, Conviction, Clarity:  Homily at “Train the Trainers” Event

(Commissioning of Ethnic Ministries Ambassadors)

Rev. Dr. Winfred B. Vergara 12.15.11 Los Angeles, California

In most of history, there are three factors that make up the recipe of a revolutionary change: common experience of pain, common vision of hope and the emergence of authentic leaders who embody their people’s pains and visions. In the Church, it is not the institution that can effect real change, but a group of Christians who are keenly sensitive to the cry of God’s people, and who, like Mary of the Magnificat, would earnestly respond to the will of God.

Some portions of these elements are present among us today, and I prophesy that someday, we shall effect this revolutionary change in our beloved Church. A Chinese proverb says, “the journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step.” You as leaders from the four ethnic communities have just began to tie up the thongs of your sandals in order to march in the light of Christ, no longer behind, but alongside the enlightened members of the dominant culture---and effect, real change. 

God is still in the business of renewing the face of the earth and rearranging the order of things. “He has cast down the mighty from their thrones and has lifted up the lowly. He has shown the strength of His arm, he has scattered the proud in their conceit.” I am certain that us, who come from the margins, are being called by God to announce repentance and change so that the structures of racism and injustice will be dismantled and the disparity that exists between and among peoples and cultures will cease to exist. Justice and equity will come together, harmony and diversity will kiss each other.

As a concluding remark to the many lessons that you have already learned these past three days, let me just say three things why I believe you can be part of change:

First, is your sense of calling: After observing you and listening to how you responded to the presentations of your Ethnic Missioners, I am now starting to believe that it was not us who called you and invited you, but God Himself through the Holy Spirit. For not only that you exhibit a sense of mission but you also demonstrate the gifts of the Spirit and even more possess the fruit of the spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, kindness, gentleness and self-control.

Second is your sense of conviction: I heard many of you expressing your passion for mission and your willingness to be used by God as bridges, conduits or broad bands of Christ’s ministry of reconciliation.

Thirdly and finally, is your sense of clarity. This is very important, because, I believe the Church today is losing, if not already lost her message. In this time of anxiety, volatility, uncertainty and complexity, the Church is experiencing a fog of mission and a sense of confusion.

I remember an event when the pope died and a conclave was called in the Vatican City in Rome to elect a new pope. Unlike the Episcopal Church’s General Convention where election of the Presiding Bishop is an open assembly, a conclave is a secret meeting where the cardinals are locked in a room and they retreat to their prayer cubicles, seek discernment from the almighty and cast their votes. The people gathered at St. Peter’s Square will know if the pope is elected or not elected through the smoke that comes out from the chimney of the Vatican. When a Pope is not elected, the cardinals would burn their ballots and a black smoke will come out. But when a pope is elected, they will put a certain chemical and a white smoke will appear. Now in this particular election, there was not enough chemical put and so the smoke that came out was neither black nor white but grey----and the people outside were confused.

I am inclined to say that much as you will be the “ambassadors of the Diversity, Social and Environmental Ministries of the Missions Department of the Episcopal Church,” you must have the clarity that your primary role as a Christians and as Episcopalians is to become an ambassador for Christ, Christ making His appeal through you and entrusted you with the ministry of reconciliation. We do not have a mission of our own; we are only entrusted to become instruments of Christ’s mission. We do not have a ministry of our own, we are only entrusted with the ministry of Christ, like baby-sitters of God’s own children.

Sam reminded us yesterday that when all is said and done, our real calling is the salvation of souls. John Wesley, the Anglican priest who founded the Methodist Church a century or so ago, once said to the clergy and lay leaders: ”You have nothing to do but to save souls. Therefore spend and be spent on it. It is not by doing this or doing that, but being a member of this organization or that society, but it is by saving as many souls as you can and to bring them up to that holiness without which we can not see the Lord.”

It is this clarity of your message, this sense of mission and this conviction of your calling that would make you as true ambassadors. And so it is proper for us, the four Ethnic Missioners, to now call you our colleagues and fellow missioners. Let our common calling be grounded by faith, let our conviction be sustained by hope and let the clarity of our message be shaped by love. Amen.

where It All Began- A Christmas Message

  

As missioner for Episcopal Asiamerica Ministries, I wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Despite all its challenges, the Year 2011 brought tremendous blessings to us. All the ethnic convocations have met to plan their activities and their representatives have gathered to share best practices and strategize for the future. I am grateful to Jim Kodera+ for serving as EAM Council president from 2009 to 2011 and I pray for Bayani Rico+ who now carries the torch of leadership for the future.

The Chinese Convocation developed their E-Newsletter as an avenue for regular communication. The Korean Convocation started three new ministries in three dioceses: Washington DC, Hawaii and Maryland. The Filipino Convocation continues to grow in numbers with its Las Vegas congregation receiving a grant from Domestic Missionary partnership for expansion. The Japanese Convocation is experiencing a new revitalization. The Southeast Asian Convocation has lifted up Toua Vang as the first Hmong seminarian and a Vietnamese mission has just become a full-pledged parish. The South Asian Convocation is renewing ties with Church of South India, Church of North India and Mar Thoma Church..

The diocesan EAM Commission of California held its first regional EAM Consultation (2011); to be followed by the EAM Commission of Long Island (2012). The EAM partnership with Episcopal Divinity School towards a Doctor of Ministry program from the global perspective of Asian Episcopalian will begin on June 2012. The EAM Young Adults are being reactivated and an EAM Youth Camp on Summer 2012 is being  organized by Holy Apostles' Parish in Minnesota

The EAM Network has become more than just a sounding board for ministry and resources. It has become a prayer group, a support group, a Barnabas (encourager) group. We have become a spiritual community, a web of relationships of Asians and Asian Americans, bearing connectedness to our historical past and the homelands we left behind and navigating the challenge of assimilating into the culture we find ourselves. The burden becomes bearable and the struggle endurable because these are lived in the context of collegiality, community and solidarity. The collaboration in mission finds its fulfillment in the confluence of diversity: Asians, Black, Latino/Hispanic, Native American and the Anglo-European communities of the Episcopal Church. We are all streams of water flowing into the ocean of God’s loving embrace.

The Christmas manger is the place where all our journeys really started. The birth of Jesus, the Holy Child, was the first step of that arduous mission to reconcile the world and each other to God. The passion and crucifixion of Christ brought the final touches in the divine masterpiece called the incarnation. The resurrection brings forth the promise of a new and abundant on earth and eternal life in the heavens. Eternity was already signed, sealed and delivered into the hearts of those who believe.

“We shall never cease from exploring,” wrote the poet T. S. Elliot,” and the end of all our exploring is to arrive to where we started and know the place for the first time.” On this Christmas season, let us arrive to where we have begun and know the manger for the first time. With faith, hope and love, love, love.

Fred+

The Rev. Dr. Winfred B. Vergara

Episcopal Asiamerica Ministry

The Episcopal Church Center